It is beyond belief
that this outstanding Siegfried languished
in the Decca archives for over fifty
years. Recorded live in stereo during
the 1955 Bayreuth Festival it was subsequently
vetoed for release by producer John
Culshaw and other Decca managers to
protect the projected studio Ring,
conducted by Solti between 1958 and
1965. The Testament booklet wades through
the complex history but needless to
say Decca's mistake is immediately apparent
as this new Siegfried scores
over the Decca studio (over)production
in every respect, particularly conducting
and sheer dramatic theatricality. Indeed,
this is now the finest stereo Siegfried
available.
Decca's live engineering
is astonishingly vivid. Wagnerians forced
to listen beyond the distanced murky
sonics of various pirate Bayreuth 1950s
Rings will rejoice in the revealed
instrumental colours, most obviously
in the woodwind clarity and beautiful
bass presence. Singers are forward but
not to the detriment of the orchestra,
a serious disappointment in the famous
1953 Krauss Bayreuth Ring.
Listeners will take
a moment to adjust to the violins being
on the right and, in keeping with the
layered Bayreuth pit, timpani and brass
are recessed, but not to the excessive
extent of Philips' Bayreuth Boulez Ring.
The only thing missing compared with
most pirate 1950s broadcasts is the
more resonant stage where you can hear
the 'hall' acoustic better. But I respect
the engineers' decision to bring microphones
closer, letting us hear detail whilst
maintaining balance and warmth.
Be warned you will
hear limitations of the fifty year old
tapes in some far from excessive compression
and a slight lack of inner clarity when
the full orchestra opens out. Instruments
and voices do not suddenly lurch forward/backward,
unlike the super-multi-miked opera broadcast
horrors foisted on us by the BBC these
days. Here everything sounds comparatively
natural.
Testament's claim that
the recording is live may not be completely
correct. There are rumours that Windgassen's
hammer strikes at the end of Act I were
not on the beat and that musicians were
recalled after performances to patch
the passage. There is no mention in
the Testament booklet so who knows?
The performance is
a special triumph for Keilberth and
immediately places him amongst the finest
Wagner conductors on record. Lyricism
and warmth are the distinguishing features
here but Keilberth also builds long
passages towards the most exciting crescendi.
Try the final duet from the gently floated
Idyll theme which gradually unfolds
outwards to the virile, but not overpowering
playing, especially from full romantic
strings, as Siegfried and Brünnhilde
finally embrace. There is never a feeling
that the music is forced or pushed,
unlike Solti - and Keilberth's colours
are darker and richer than those secured
by Böhm.
Another difference
between Keilberth and Solti is that
Keilberth does not break phrases with
excessive clipped attacks - I can almost
see the barlines - but tends to phrase
more evenly and sensitively, as if the
orchestra is singing naturally with
the cast.
Keilberth conducted
in the shadow of contemporaries like
Knappertsbusch and Furtwängler.
Going back to that final duet, Knappertsbusch
(live 1958) is slower but with deeper
muscular power. But to really hear the
duet passion unleashed try Furtwängler
(live 1953). The tender return of the
Idyll theme brings tears to the eyes.
Then the voices of the orchestra ripple
outward in ever enlarging rhythmic waves
until strings and brass generate a huge
swagger within the most extraordinary
rubato; Furtwängler's exciting
rhythmic grip is seldom commented on
- commentators tend to focus on his
amazing colouristic and dramatic insights.
Keilberth cannot match this, but could
anyone?
Overall though, Keilberth
was not given the recording profile
of lesser Wagner conductors and it is
sad he is not here to enjoy the recognition
this Ring cycle will bring.
Varnay is in the same
fresh steady voice of her stunning 1951
live Götterdämmerung - also
on Testament. I do not enjoy her fruity
lower register tone but her voice brightens
with clear focus as she extends upwards.
Varnay occasionally swells into notes
but I love the exhilarating way she
nails notes squarely when she chooses.
Solti's Nilsson scores over Varnay for
accuracy and power but Varnay is easier
on the ear and is more dramatically
immersed in Brünnhilde's character
having greater colour and scale.
Mödl for Furtwängler
may scoop and swoop but her chesty soprano
has even more astonishing colours than
Varnay, culminating in a love duet for
Furtwängler (1953) that makes me
hope fire extinguishers were on hand
in the wings. Mödl was also the
alternate Brünnhilde in the 1955
Bayreuth Keilberth Ring and that
cycle was also recorded by Decca - in
stereo too? Let's hope this also appears
one day. But if you want a beautiful
dramatic Brünnhilde who combines
womanly tone with blistering accuracy
there is no looking past Rita Hunter
for Goodall.
Hotter is instantly
recognisable, singing his famous Wotan
with deep authority, bringing the text
to life. Whilst I appreciate Culshaw's
efforts to reveal Wagner's wondrous
orchestration in the studio Ring,
the more forward placement of the voices
in this live set lets us appreciate
the sheer resonance of Hotter's tone
better. His confrontation with the dark
metal of Gustav Neidlinger's Alberich,
shot through with malice and bitterness,
makes me long for the release of Keilberth’s
Rheingold in two month's time.
Paul Kuen's Mime almost
steals the show. He does not resort
to whining caricature but colours the
text and uses very agile phrasing whilst
maintaining a singing line. Try the
first track of CD2 where you can almost
see the wide-eyed semi-comic horror
of Mime fearing Fafner's supposed approach.
Here the cowering neurosis underpinning
Mime is tangibly real.
Maria von Ilosvay is
a suitably rich and ethereal Erda, floating
her lines. Josef Greindl is a deep and
resonant dragon. I would be happy to
take directions from Ilse Hollweg's
Woodbird but miss the more crystalline
beauty of Rita Streich for Furtwängler.
Brickbats? The first
is presentation. My heart sank when
I saw Testament issued this Siegfried
in a cap box with the CDs in cardboard
sleeves. CDs are more likely to be scuffed
when slid repeatedly in and out of these
sleeves and I wish Testament had stuck
with the jewel box format of their 1951
Götterdämmerung. My Siegfried
CDs are now transferred to normal CD
cases which may look messy on the shelf
but at least they are safer.
And these CDs need
to be looked after as they are expensive.
The set costs £50 in a major UK music
chain or £44 from Testament's own website.
That would make the whole Ring
over £150(!), beyond my and other collectors'
reach. Why release the cycle in separate
operas at all? Better to have an entire
Ring as a unified whole retailing
at about £100. I would gladly forgo
the 120 page booklet for a lower price.
The type is tiny anyway and it is easy
to buy a libretto elsewhere - try the
English National Opera. A small booklet
giving background on the recording itself
plus synopsis together with the production
photos would be sufficient.
I've deliberately saved
the super-special for last. Windgassen's
youthful Siegfried is beautiful in sunny
ardent voice. Anyone who has heard Ring
broadcasts from Bayreuth in recent years
will know not to take Windgassen's evenly
sustained power throughout the course
of this huge role for granted. Windgassen
should be discussed alongside Remedios,
possibly even Melchior, and I wonder
if it is his special contribution that
explains why Testament took the ostensibly
odd step of releasing Siegfried
first?
So this Siegfried
is a mandatory purchase for Wagnerians.
Keilberth's Siegfried is better
conducted than the over-excited, choppy
Solti set, better cast than Karajan,
better recorded and sung than Boulez
and he digs deeper than the disappointing
Barenboim. Levine's saturated conducting
benefits from the peerless Met orchestra
and recording but sunk by dire principal
singers, particularly Behrens’ wobbly
Brünnhilde. I do not enjoy Goodall's
leisurely conducting for all of his
insights.
Looking ahead to future
instalments, in the stereo stakes Keilberth
has competition from Barenboim's well
played, recorded and sung Rheingold
but the way is surely clear for
Keilberth's Walküre to come top
of the pile. Knappertsbusch's magisterial
live 1951 Götterdämmerung
is in such astonishing sound that
it must be considered 'honorary stereo'
and will be hard for Keilberth to match.
As you may guess, every Wagnerian should
underpin these well-recorded Ring
operas with the live 1953 Furtwängler
set, despite the boxy sound and sometimes
ropy orchestra. Furtwängler is
simply the best Ring conductor.
Testament’s decisions about packaging
and pricing are questionable. Each of
the acts is under 80 minutes (78+, 75+,
75+). So it seems Testament has wasted
one CD, caused unnecessary breaks in
the music and added extra expense to
their customers. A big thumbs down on
that count!
The remaining instalments
in the Keilberth Bayreuth Ring cycle
are planned for release in March, May
and July 2006.
Finally, I keep relistening
to Keilberth's forging scene closing
Act I. Keilberth naturally unfolds the
lyrical strength of full rich Bayreuth
strings, basses and timps deepen and
gather force, Mime animates with quicksilver
volatility. Then, capping it all, Windgassen
powers forward, striking Notung with
hammer-blows that leap through the speakers
and lets his ringing heldentenor soar
with joyous, excited wonder.
David Harbin
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra/Joseph Keilberth 
